Marcia Johnston’s You Can Say that Again is a hilarious yet sobering read. Listing common redundancies, the author causes you to contemplate the humor in both the redundancies and your own writing! You wouldn’t believe how I have been second guessing my writing of this review. As a tribute to the author, not really a guise to mask my own sloppy writing (really!), I feel positively compelled to offer a review replete with redundancies. Trust that you will find them as you read my review! Moreover, so delightful is the book that it should be twice complimented! In any event, being redundant comes naturally to me—I am Trinidadian (a people known for hyperbole and super emphasis – reverse back;kill it dead and you sure you sure?).
Ms. Johnston has captured some favorites of mine—ethical obligation (a politician’s go-to phrase when trying to effect sincerity), full satisfaction (so says any sales clerk trying to offload product), and go back and re-read (so instruct I, as I command my students who really, really must read and re-read my instructions).
Beyond preferred favorites, I have learnt many a numerous thing. Who knew that there is such a thing as RAS Syndrome? I myself feel that all scientists and technologists eventually develop this syndrome and if they don’t then their job advancement is uncertain. And the La Brea Tar Pits had me Googling (sorry for making a verb out of a noun), thinking that the reference was referring to the La Brea pitch lake of Trinidad: I found out that there are tar pits around Hancock Park in Los Angeles and that La Brea means “the tar.” Therefore, the La Brea Tar Pits means the the tar tar pits. Could this be a pit of the stuff that you put on your fish?
While redundancy lends a particular color to the spoken word, professional writers (in particular) should guard against redundancy. It does make for curiously funny reading and creates an impression of professional slovenly sloppiness. Whether or not you read You Can Say that Again for pleasure (lovers of language will chuckle at the gems that lie therein), or as an easy-to-read reference to remind yourself of the grave redundancies that lurk and threaten to propagate in your writing, I am sure sure that you will find value in reading and re-reading Marcia Johnston’s You Can Say that Again.
Adult literacy tutors play an important role in providing a learning bridge to many types of literacy skill-sets. Increasingly, adult digital literacy is imperative to being able to communicate, locate information, solve everyday problems and to advance in socio-economic status. Being fluent in the many literacies required by contemporary work and social contexts is also considered essential to cultural citizenship and social belonging (Fantin, 2013). However, the peer tutors at Literacy New Jersey, Burlington County Programs (LNJBC) are often older people with limited digital literacy skills themselves. As a result, many literacy tutors are ill-prepared for fostering the digital competency of their students. In this article, I report on a graduate-level instructional design research project that addressed the digital literacy learning gaps of adult literacy tutors at LNJBC in the fall of 2014. My study measured the effectiveness of the digital literacy training programme, with online learning support, in enhancing the digital skills of tutors and, in turn, the digital literacy of their students.
The digital literacy workshop series included four workshop sessions offered in Burlington County, New Jersey, to address the specific learning needs of tutors in that region. An additional workshop was made available to literacy tutors from around the state at the annual Literacy for Life Conference in Trenton, New Jersey on November 1, 2014. Separate online learning support was created for the Burlington County and state workshop sessions. Students had the option to attend whichever dates and as many sessions as were convenient for them.
Data collection for this study used both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the instructional design methodology was iterative. All tutors received a pre-program survey at the beginning of September 2014 to assess learning needs and skills gaps related to technology and tutoring. A learner profile was generated from the results of the pre-training survey and informed the learning objectives, content, and program design. Tutors who wished to participate in the workshops registered with the literacy program. Prior to the beginning of the workshop series, user tests of the two course websites took place to ensure all links were working and that tutorials were paced appropriately. During workshop sessions, a passive observer took notes on the efficacy of the learning design, using a list of prompts developed from Caladine’s Learning Activities Model (Caladine, 2008). The designer made necessary adjustments to the instructional design plan after each workshop session upon reviewing her field notes and the observer’s notations. At the end of the workshop series, participants took an online survey to assess how well the program met personal learning goals, whether the skills learned during the workshop impacted their tutoring sessions with adult literacy students, and if they believed their students benefited in any way from tutor training. Additionally, the designer conducted informal participant interviews two weeks after the end of the workshop series to assess the extent to which technology had been further integrated into tutoring sessions. Overall student learning was measured by applying observer notes, researcher field notes, and evaluation of learning artifacts to Caladine’s Learning Activities Model. The study ended in early December 2014.
Student learning artifacts that arose from the digital literacy training were individual and collective in nature; and in most cases, students had a choice of projects to work on in any one workshop session. The learning artifacts that arose from the four workshops in Burlington County included two new email accounts and practice emails, four blogs with one to two posts each, three video lesson demonstrations uploaded to YouTube or Google Drive and one slideshow, two completed Skype calls, and one digital story about surviving the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia during WWII uploaded to YouTube and shared with a daughter in Israel via email. The largest workshop session in Trenton brought approximately 20 tutor participants together. Students worked on case studies and completed their own digital tutoring session ideas in pairs or small groups using the facilitator and workshop website with tutorials as learning support. Participants then shared their ideas and findings via a Google document linked to the workshop website that students could then access at a later date for additional ideas and support.
The informal interviews and post-program evaluation results suggest that participants who attended at least two workshop sessions made leaps in their confidence to create digital products that enhance their tutoring and personal lives. Statistics for the two workshop websites show students used the online learning support outside of class steadily for about a month after class. While many participants were not sure to what extent the workshops had impacted their tutoring sessions to date (as of December 2014), most were certain there would be a benefit in the future. Now that more tutors have increased their digital literacy and skills confidence at LNJBC, ongoing trainings may periodically take place as webinars and online learning modules in the future. A detailed presentation of this study can be found at http://ejaportfolio.weebly.com.
References
Caladine, R. (2008). Content and Interactions. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Fantin, M. (2013). Beyond babel: Multiliteracies in digital culture. In A. Cartelli (Ed.), Fostering 21st Century Digital Literacy and Technical Competency (1-6). IGI Global: Hershey, PA. doi: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2943.ch001
It is with profound sadness that we share this news. Janice Watrous-McCabe, senior STC member and an active member of the IDL-SIG passed away on October 25, 2015 shortly after being diagnosed with cancer and just a few months after she retired from Allina Health, where she managed a group of eLearning specialists.
Speaking about her, Carol Widstrand, a former IDL-SIG Programs Manager who also worked with Jan at Allina said, “Jan was kind, compassionate, and persuasive. She would bring together a diverse group of people and keep them involved. Her evaluations of training materials were thoughtful and she always took the time to discuss why things are done a certain way in instructional design.” Jane Smith, a former IDL-SIG manager wrote, “She contributed to the e-Learning evaluation session at the conference and helped with membership mailings. She was very knowledgeable about ID… very competent.” Jan also presented a well-received webinar, Developing a Curriculum, in May, 2010.
Jan was born on May 15, 1949 in Independence, Iowa and grew up in Waterloo, Iowa. She graduated with a degree in Education, but went to work as a sales representative for Northwestern Bell in Nebraska. She moved to the Twin Cities as Director Marketing and was part of U. S. West. After U. S. West she joined Health Partners as a technical writer and after completing her Master’s Degree in Distance Learning from Capella University, she joined Allina Health where she won the Uncommon Caring Award of Excellence.
Jan is survived by her husband Robert, son David, and sister Sarah Berner, and two huskies.
Note the dates and times when volunteers are needed
Deadline: Applications need to be submitted by April 6, 2016 (See Application for instructions)
Benefits: Volunteers receive complimentary registration (a $200 value) for the Summit. This enables them to visit the exhibit hall, attend all the receptions, enjoy the coffee breaks and other networking events. In addition, like the other attendees who pay the full price for the Summit, volunteers will receive complimentary access to the Summit Playback. This will enable them to view the sessions they might have missed due to their volunteer responsibilities.
You may have noticed that IDeaL: Design for Learning has been in hibernation for the last year or so; for this we ask your forgiveness. Two major cosmic phenomena collided somewhere deep in space to interrupt normal transmission—Robert Hershenow, Managing Editor for over ten years, assumed the demanding role of SIG Co-Manager; and the newsletter needed to transition to a new medium—WordPress.
When Robert took his chances (brave guy) and passed the baton to me, he was hoping for a successor who could, with little lag time, learn and dominate WordPress. Poor Robert! I began by having to google “WordPress” and “html”! My students claim that when they are able to explain things—things technological—to me, they know they can explain it to anybody!
But what I lack in tech savvy, I promise to make up for in willingness to learn. And learning I am! Happy to report too that I have a safety net—the Managing Committee, a larger, generous team that is more resourceful and experienced than me. It is because of this tremendous collective that we are able to resume transmission.
As all technical communicators will know, changing communication media and managing that change is demanding and complex. We hope that our migration to WordPress meets your approval…if not, we are happy to hear from you. We ask that you bear with us as we tweak here and there, all in the name of serving the IDL community and the larger TC community.
Winning several STC awards for IDeaL: Design for Learning, Robert is a hard act to follow. I promise to do my best to continue his tradition of excellence, knowing always that I can draw on the IDL community for help.
In this exciting return of our newsletter you will find familiar content—notes from our co-managers; SIG news; and updates on our membership. We have posted two full-length articles: Elizabeth Allen reports on her intriguing project on digital literacy training for tutors of adult literacy; and Virginia Butler shares personal insights on the value of mentoring and being mentored. Enjoy!
From your Co-Manager
View from Here: Just Past the Half-way Mark
by Mellissa Ruryk, Co-manager
Greetings to you, fellow SIG members. I apologize for the delay in being in contact with you through this medium and need to say thanks to Robert Hershenow and Crista Mohammed for their stamina and persistence in getting the newsletter published again.
This is an update on what the SIG leaders have accomplished since their term began in 2015. Anyone keeping an eye on the website knows we’ve all been busy this year!
We had fun at the Summit in Columbus last year and enjoyed meeting new SIG members at the Communities Reception table as well as the SIG’s business meeting. We held that meeting over breakfast, so early in the morning that some of us were still in our pajamas. We are just in the midst of picking a time to meet at this year’s Summit in Anaheim; we’ll try to find a better time. Maybe we’ll buy lunch for anyone who comes and joins us for the business meeting.
We recommended two of our most active members for Distinguished SIG Service awards, and these were awarded to Viqui Dill and Preeti Mathur.
Preeti’s citation reads:
In recognition of your exemplary patience, dedication, and diplomacy in co-managing the SIG, while simultaneously overseeing the training evaluation program, and porting the website to a new hosting service.
Viqui’s citation reads:
For her superpowers, used in our SIG to lead both Programs and the Website teams, that she expresses with grace and good humor.
Our heartfelt thanks and congratulations to Preeti and Viqui for their service to the IDL SIG.
They were not the only award winners. The SIG applied for and was awarded a Gold Community Achievement Award for our activities during the 2015 membership year, one in which we tried hard to provide value to the membership and reach out to new students and regular members.
We will be in touch more often during this year, a year of transition as Robert and I retire and leave the running of the SIG in the capable hands of Viqui Dill and Lori Meyer.
Will you pledge to participate in just one SIG event this year? If every member participated in just one activity each, our SIG would be a hive of excitement and so much fun for all of us. HOW can you participate? Gee, I’m glad you asked.
Write an article for the newsletter (yes, this one!)
Write an article for the website
Research the educational institutions that offer a degree or certificate program in Instructional Design, Instructional Technology, or Educational Technology in your town, province, city or state. If they are not already listed on http://www.stcidlsig.org/education/, send us an email with a list of those schools. We will research the contact info and add the listing to this page. It’s a wonderful resource!
When you hear of an ID-related job opening that you can’t apply for, why not share it with the rest of us? We have a job board that needs listings. Perhaps your employer is hiring? We can help spread the word if you send the details to us; we’ll post it on our website.
Sign up to attend an IDL SIG webinar. Better yet, convince a friend or co-worker to attend.
Try to recruit new members for the SIG. They can be existing STC members, or really turn on your persuasive powers and convince someone to join STC and become a SIG member at the same time.
Come to the business meeting if you are attending the Summit in Anaheim in May this year.
Attend the All Hands meeting on the last Wednesday of each month. The agenda is sent out in the week prior – come and find out what we do and how much fun we have doing it.
Let us know what ID events you attend or promote. We are happy to publicize the events you put on or attend in your neighborhood. You might spark an idea in someone else’s mind to put on a similar event in their location.
Let us know if you meet up with any other SIG members, face-to-face or virtually. Because we are a virtual community, it’s important to acknowledge any efforts we make to connect with other members. (And yes, it gets us points on the CAA application form!)
Do you do any mentoring of students or co-workers? That would be interesting to learn about in a short article for our website.
Attend the next Virtual Open House (TBA)
Put together a 20-minute presentation for our next Virtual Progression to be offered in late summer.
Do you have a question about ID that you can’t find an answer to? A professional problem that’s stumping you? Why not ask the IDL-Discussion list? Send your post to idl-announce@mailer.stc.org. Or, answer someone else’s post, if you can help them out. Share your experience, strength and hope with us!
Tweet, post or link to/about a SIG activity – make some NOISE!!
Consider applying for an Associate Fellow position, or if you are already an Associate Fellow, consider applying for full Fellow. Check out the requirements on http://www.stc.org/ and let us know how we can help you complete the application form.
In closing, here are the SIG Initiatives – the ways in which we seek to serve you, our membership and the greater Society at large.
Initiative 1:Build the instructional design skills of members at all experience levels, leveraging the knowledge of experienced members to deliver formal and informal guidance to the community of practice
Initiative 2:Build the ID community through a proactive combination of activities that includes member recognition, internal and external partnerships, and awareness activities.
Initiative 3:Provide a forum and mechanism for the free exchange of knowledge, ideas and skills including educational outreach.
Initiative 4:Promote the added value of the IDL SIG and optimize communication efforts.
Think about them and see if you can put just one into action in your professional life this year. Then write a short article or even just an email to tell us what a difference it made (or didn’t) in your life. We’re listening.
PS: Stay tuned for an upcoming communication about how to find us at #Summit16!
From the Secretary
by Lori Meyer
Lots of great things are happening in our SIG!
Community Achievement Awards: Solid Gold! Our SIG is proud to be named an STC Gold Community for the 2015 Community Achievement Awards! Gold is the second highest CAA award level. Our award citation will read:
“For your strong and consistent promotion of STC and the IDL SIG through active participation in the 2015 Summit and your excellent educational offerings, including your very creative Virtual Progression program.”
We will be recognized at the Summit 2016 conference, when we will receive our award certificate.
Our webinars are now FREE for all SIG members. Here’s another great reason to join our SIG: Our webinars are now free to all SIG members! For non-members, our webinars are available at a nominal cost, never more than the cost of SIG membership itself. So you can recoup the cost of attending just one of our webinars by joining us!
And speaking of webinars, join us for our next presentation on April 21 with award-winning technical writer and instructional designer Mary Whalen (Sojoodi), who will provide tips for “Getting Started with Video Training.” For more information, and to sign up, go to http://www.stcidlsig.org/mary-whalen-sojoodi-presents-getting-started-video-training/, and click the Eventbrite link. The webinar is free for SIG members, and available at a small charge for non-members.
Come to our annual SIG business meeting at Summit 2016. All SIG members are invited to attend our annual business meeting, to be held at Summit 2016. Watch for information on our web site and in our announcements about the date and time. Our business meeting is a great way learn more about our SIG. It’s also your opportunity to network face-to-face with your SIG colleagues.
All SIG members welcome to attend monthly leadership team meetings. If you’re a SIG member, you can attend any of our leadership team meetings, which are held the 4th Wednesday of each month. Come and find out more about our SIG, our plans for the future, and how you can get involved! For more information about how to dial in, go to http://www.stcidlsig.org/youre-invited-attend-idl-sig-monthly-meeting/.
Membership recruitment race. Help our SIG grow! Are you thinking about joining STC? Do you know someone who might be interested in joining? Or, are you a member who has not? Now is the time to join our fun and forward-thinking community.
Article: Digital Literacy Training for Adult Literacy Tutors
by Elizabeth J. Allen
Elizabeth Allen shares findings from her study on the impact of Digital Literacy Training for tutors. Her training programme recognizes that literacy tutors, beyond the teaching of the three R‘s—reading, writing and arithmetic, need also to help students develop a wide range of digital literacies which are critical to participating in contemporary society. However, some tutors are themselves in need of digital literacy training. Read more about the training that Elizabeth developed for literacy tutors in New Jersey and her evaluation of that training…
Virginia Butler explores the value of both mentoring and being mentored. She argues that beyond achieving professional goals, the mentor-mentee relationship is one that is a wellspring of encouragement; hope and drive.
Book Review: You Can Say that Again by Marcia Johnston
by Crista Mohammed
Marcia Johnston’s You Can Say that Again is a hilarious yet sobering read. Listing 750 common redundancies, culled from her long career as both a professional and creative writer, Marcia causes you to laugh at the silliness of the redundancies and grimace at your own writing! You Can Say that Again will entertain lovers of language who are guaranteed to chuckle at the gems that Marcia has curated. And, it is an easy-to-read reference of redundancies that we should all be working to eliminate.
Student volunteers will receive complimentary registration to STC’s Summit 2016 in Anaheim, California, May 15-18, 2016 (a $200 value). Registration includes all networking events and complimentary access to the Summit Playback.
Publication Policy: We invite letters, articles, book reviews, and other items for publication. Articles may contain up to 1,000 words. Picture formats: JPG, GIF, PNG; Text format: Word, RTF, or ASCII. Send items to Crista Mohammed at newsletter@stcidlsig.org
Advertising Policy and Rates: We encourage advertising as long as it follows STC guidelines and promotes services of interest to IDL SIG members.
Business Card (3.5×2): $25 (1 issue); $100 (4 issues)
Please submit electronic copy only in .TIF, .GIF, or .PNG format. Send ads to Crista Mohammed at newsletter@stcidlsig.org. Make checks payable to Society for Technical Communication and send to: Robert Hershenow, STC IDL SIG, 616 Colusa Ave, Berkeley CA 94707.
Copyright Statement: This newsletter invites technical communicators in the field of instructional design to submit articles for publication. The authors implicitly grant a license to this newsletter to run the submission, and for other STC publications to reprint it without permission. Copyright is held by the author. Let the editor know in your cover letter if the article has run elsewhere, and if it has been submitted for consideration to other publications. Design and layout of this newsletter are copyright STC, 2005‐2016.
